We're expecting our first in a month. The parents decide how much a kid "costs." I've seen all kinds of spending based on safety, health, what other people think. :oops: Kids don't cost hardly any $$$, the question is how many advantages do you want them to have. The biggest by far has to be health ...

You have done your homework! Try protective with executive membership at Costco. I got a 1mil 20 year term and my wife 500k 20 year term. I can always suplament more at work(380k now) and plan on reassessment at 45(I'm 30 now) Don't think you need to get it perfect right now just get 20 year term fi...

Boneheaded financial mistake: In 1998 I sold 200 shares of LSTR at $45.00 per share to finance a vacation to Florida. Today the 200 shares would be 1600 shares @ $99.00 or about $158,400. Very good decision: In 1998 I sold 200 shares of LSTR at $45.00 per share to finance a vacation to Florida. The...

This is a very old fashion way of thought. Even if it’s break even, a spouse *should* continue to work to maintain their skills and career prospects, especially one who was pulling in 70k (!!). It is well understood that women take huge future earnings hits by doing this, it’s bad for equality, it’...

If you can stomach it why not? However, while I cant find the link, Vanguard has a historical analysis of stocks/bonds allocations. I switched to 80/20 once I read through that as the benefit of being 100% isn't much better than an 80/20 allocation but offers the safety of the bond allocation. I'm ...

Your post seems pretty glib about the prospect of running out of money. That was certainly not my intent. But many Bogleheads have made a point that actually exhausting a sizable portfolio during retirement is something so rare as to not be a very realistic possibility for those reading this forum....

Since this money is not for retirement and may be needed in the next few years, it should not be invested. It should be saved. Otherwise, it may not be there when you want it. I would use CDs and high yield savings. The most aggressive would be a short term bond fund and that for only part of the m...

In my opinion, you should get what you really want. Expect to lose a small portion of your networth and try to limit friction(like 1 raptor every 5 years???) The thing I worry about is the entitlement aspect: You work so hard at convincing yourself "you deserve it," that you total 5 raptors in 10 ye...

On average, insurance companies are profitable. You are the amateur competing with professional actuaries. I am heavily biased towards towards self-insure. I carry homeowners and I go to PLPD on vehicles when value drops below about $5000. +1 I'm of the perspective that I can't win. The only questi...

I'm(30) most interested in landing the most tax credits by low income (84k MFJ with our first kid due Feb). We will Max 401k(18.5k), Tira(11k), and HSA(6.2k). Does this sound like an optimal tax situation for 2018? Should we be contributing to Roth IRAs instead?? Thank you for any response. :beer E...

B) If your income is low, you may contribute 100% to Trad. 401K and Trad. IRA in order to qualify for tax credits. In those cases, your tax will be zero or negative. In summary, 100% to Trad. 401K and 100% to Roth IRA works for almost all income levels. If you can go to zero but can't go negative, ...

The mortgage company said she could be on the loan by herself since my credit has tanked to about 600 due to the debt. Please let your wife get the refinance with a higher credit score. Does she make enough to qualify for the loan by herself? Otherwise stick with paying off the credit cards, then l...

Please cash out all these policies and get term insurance. I pay $36 per month for 1.5 million in coverage. :sharebeer From what I understand only the rich can benefit from investment insurance under very particular circumstances. I plan on paying for term insurance until no one is counting on my in...

The mortgage company said she could be on the loan by herself since my credit has tanked to about 600 due to the debt. Please let your wife get the refinance with a higher credit score. Does she make enough to qualify for the loan by herself? Otherwise stick with paying off the credit cards, then l...

Look at the number of individual posts and “joined date” for the people writing in about sitting on the sidelines. A lot of them are new to the forum and are either unfamiliar with or still learning the Boglehead philosophy. I guess many bogleheads have retired and are no longer active here. Funny,...

If $20,000 is such a small portion of someone’s liquid assets, then why are they worried about losing a couple percentage points in interest by keeping it in a savings account? This. You either shouldn't be risking your unemployment fund or it doesn't matter so why not have it? Did anyone get rich ...

I use YNAB4. Unfortunately they don't sell it anymore. It was a one-time purchase rather than an on-going subscription, and it had more flexibility of functionality and better cash flow awareness than the newer version (which is online) has. I have chosen not to upgrade. Not sure what I'll do when ...

Clarify annual income (includes rentals?), annual expenses now, what your health insurance needs are before 65, what annual expense you will have in retirement. Your lifestyle costs are dramatically low, are you single? Rentals imply maintenance, vacancy, and management. The more you share the bette...

"wise girls" would buy mom and dad a $50 gift card to their favorite restaurant and when presenting it to them would smile and say something along the lines of "You're the best mom and dad in the world. You do so much for me that now I saved up some money I can do something for you!" Talk about "go...

Thank you all so much for quick responses and advice. It seems I'm at least not out of bounds with what I have currently and maybe could be a bit more aggressive. Someone suggested reading some books and I have done some of that but it's been a while. When I first started teaching I happened upon "...